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Ever felt the need to protect your hoard from a marauding horde? Today, I show you how…to get the spellings right, anyway. I love a good homophone. That, just to clarify matters, is a word whose pronunciation is the same as another’s, but whose spelling and/or definition is different. If you’d like to familiarise yourself […]

Some people get quite upset about the use of ‘decimate’ to mean a large reduction in a population (see sense 3 below). This is usually because they think its usage should be confined to the so-called original sense (see 1 and 2 below). By the way, they’re generally the same people who’ll also go on […]

Pudding: a straightforward, inoffensive sort of word, right? So why on earth, I hear you ask, is it the word of the week? Well, dear reader, I’ve chosen to feature ‘pudding’ because as words go, it’s a veritable wolf in sheep’s clothing. For when used in sense number 1 mentioned below, the word ‘pudding’ is […]

This week’s word is offered by way of elucidating something for my own benefit. I know deep in my heart that the words ‘cognate’ and ‘cognitive’ don’t mean anything like the same thing, but I still have a nasty habit–especially when writing quickly–of using them as if they do. Let’s look at their differences as […]

Today’s word is one of those whose non-medical usage annoys doctors. I shouldn’t say this, but that fact really makes me want to find a doctor to torment. Suffice it to say I won’t have to look far if I’m to execute my dastardly plan. The issue is this: patients and doctors use the word […]

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Who Am I, and Why Should You Care?

I’m Lynn Reynolds; your local wordsmith superheroine, fighting crimes against writing on a daily basis. When the Bat Light goes up over Gotham, you can rely on me to help you put some “Pow!” and “Zap!” into your prose.

Peruse my blog to become a better, more confident writer (whether you write for business, education, or simply life in general).